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Guest: John Powell. Topics: Updates on JP Aerospace and the Airship To Orbit program. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See http://www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed John Powell back to the show for updates and news with JP Aerospace. For more information, visit http://www.jpaerospace.com. Be sure to click on the Blog button at the top for even more information. During the first segment of our 1 hour 32 minute discussion, John updated us with an overview of JP Aerospace. He has 160 missions to date & now flies PongSat missions with up to 2,000 PongSats on the flight. I asked him how the students prepared their experiments using a ping pong ball. We learned that the balloon typically climbs at 1,000′ per minute for a 110 minute flight to the designated altitude. The entire trip including the landing is about 2.5 hours. John also described the PongSat kit and all the benefits the student gets, plus he explained to us that his commercial projects, of which there are many, goes pays for the PongSats which are always free to the students. This is his 10th year of doing PongSats but just before our break, I was surprised to hear that John has been working JP Aerospace for 37 years, starting when he was a teenager getting NASA contracts! I next asked him for an update on his Airship To Orbit (ATO) plans. John spent some time talking about ATO, including responding to listener questions about the likely impossibility of an airship being able to go to orbit. This is debated in the second segment with John from Ft. Worth. Back to our initial segment, he talked about making equipment for testing such as the Shock tube which he hoped to get up to Mach 4 in testing. We talked about manned flight for JP Aerospace, then John told us about the submarine he was designing for use off Monterrey. He had much to say about the sub, including the fact that its life support systems are the same as those in the ATO. John spent some time explaining and describing the sub and outlining the mission for it. John talked about using propellers to 90,000′, he talked about funding issues, and his volunteer labor force. Before the break, we talked about his use of Kickstarter and his current campaign for September PongSats.

In the second segment, John spoke at length about his commercial projects and in specific the Corral Hamburger ad from Columbia (he said you could find the commercial on YouTube & he provided the search term for those interested). He told another funny story about a live radio interview in Spain that went across Europe. Listen for the punchline. John from Ft. Worth called in and said he was taken back so to speak by the ATO plans which he thought were potentially possible though not possible in the way he understood physics. The two John’s had a great discussion about this. John Powell cited many examples of very high altitude balloons already having done some of the things he is working on doing with ATO. Charles Pooley called next and said he still did not think ATO would work but did not revive his classic debate/argument with John on the subject. Charles made a point of saying how impressed he was with JP success, programming and meetings its goals and missions. He also applauded John for his being such a gentleman in their sometimes heated debate exchanges. When asked about JP Aerospace around the world, John gave a shout out to those he knows in Poland. For Pearls of Wisdom, John offered us “You Really Can Do This!”

Please post comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach John through his website or through me.

Guest: Dr. Jason Reimuller. Topics: Project PoSSUM, manned suborbital polar research flights, noctilucent clouds, rescue & recovery. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed Dr. Jason Reimuller to the program to discuss Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere). For more information, please visit their website, www.projectpossum.org. In the first segment of this 1 hour 29 minute discussion, Dr. Reimuller started off by telling us the history of Project PoSSUM and its focus on noctilucent clouds. Jason described noctilucent clouds and their importance. I also suggest you read about them on their website at http://projectpossum.org/2015-possum-nlc-campaign/about-noctilucent-clouds. We talked about the high latitudes, the short window for observing these clouds, and the interest in using the XCOR Lynx vehicle as the RLV of choice though other suborbital RLVs are also being considered. We talked about funding as a NASA Flight Opportunities Program and down the road a specialized Kickstarter program. Jason also described the payloads, missions and the Aeronomy Lab, the PoSSUM observatory and much more. He described the types of experiments the scientists want to do during the suborbital flight. Jason also pointed out the use of a general aviation turbo-Mooney aircraft for noctilucent cloud observation, plus the rocket flight profile for maximum viewing and studying during the science mission.

In the second segment, we talked about how Project PoSSUM can enable and influence science globally plus the international interest in science missions to study these clouds. Here, Jason pointed out that their choice vehicle was actually the Lynx Mark II. A listener asked if the clouds were also present in the deep southern latitudes and they are during the southern hemisphere summer as they are in the northern hemisphere summer. Given that Jason had worked on the NASA Constellation program, I asked him questions about Constellation of which he had much to say. He also expressed a concern regarding the private rocket companies and their astronaut rescue and recover programs. He talked about the Constellation rescue and recovery program, the trades they had to consider, plus all the variables that had the potential to impact a crew rescue & recovery attempt. He also described the infrastructure in place to aid in rescue and recovery for government missions but that this infrastructure may not be applicable or available to private launch vehicles and commercial astronauts. Connie wanted to know if there was any difference in the noctilucent clouds over land as compared to the oceans. We also talked about science mission conclusions regarding climate change issues.

For more information, Dr. Reimuller can be reached through the PoSSUM website plus each of the Project PoSSUM programs has contact info on the website. Post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog.

Guest: Charles Miller. Topics: Commercial space, small satellites, commercial crew, human spaceflight & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed Charles Miller back to The Space Show for this 1 hour 31 minute program. During the first segment, Charles talked about the future of commercial space, extending the life of the ISS, managing risk and uncertainty to maximize returns and benefits for commercial space, plus he used the company he co-founded, NanoRacks, as a commercial model utilizing the national lab ISS. We talked about commercial crew, the success of the Space Act Agreement for contracting and pockets of congressional resistance to the commercial and Space Act programs. In discussing commercial opportunities on the ISS, we also talked about CASIS and the role it is playing in bridging the gap and facilitating commercial companies using the ISS. Charles then talked about his company, NexGen Space LLC and he referenced the DARPA XS-1 Reusable Spaceplane. A listener asked our guest about a possible influx of commercial opportunities from outside the U.S. In response to this question, Charles talked about competing cultures and why the U.S. is so strong with its culture of innovation. Commercial crew, human spaceflight, and the need to spend 6 months training in Russia were discussed with the latter being an impediment. Suborbital demand was a topic as were the commercial efforts by Boeing, Sierra Nevada, ATK and other mainstream aerospace companies.

In our second segment, we talked about Kickstarter and the use of crowd funding in the emerging commercial space industry. Innovation and low cost space access were key topics and themes for this segment. Listener Jack asked about space entrepreneurial management teams & what to look for in a quality team. I asked Charles to tell us where he thought the industry would be in ten years. Charles talked about small satellite constellations, far more affordability across the board, and a large growth space tourism industry. He also mentioned that the turning point will come when we have cheaper access to space than today. Toward the end of our discussion, Charles was asked for his suggestion for the best path to pursue for those seeking commercial space careers. In response, he talked about getting real hardware and flight experience & mentioned high schools that provide this experience.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog per above. Charles Miller can be reached through me using drspace@thespaceshow.com.

Guests: Stanley Kennedy, Jr., Maureen O’Brien. Topics: Oakman Aerospace, cubesats, ITAR reform. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed Stan Kennedy and Maureen O’Brien to the program for this 58 minute discussion about Oakman Aerospace, cubesats, the Small Sat Conference, ITAR reform and more. During one segment discussion, Stan took us through the brief history of Oakman Aerospace (www.oak-aero.com) which just completed its first fiscal year. Oakman Aerospace (OAI) specializes in rapid and responsive, modular, open-architecture space systems which Stan discussed with us, plus more information is available on their website. We talked about changes in the small satellite and cubesat industries, the effect of sequestration which may be driving companies to more commercial options, and financial options including crowd sourcing using Kickstarter. Stan fielded several listener questions regarding the use of Kickstarter, the possibility of over saturation of the developing industry, the drive to push toward more commercial space ventures. We also talked about the importance of international participation and ITAR Reform. At one point, I asked about bottlenecks in this area and our guest cited the 1248 report. Maureen discussed the current state of ITAR reform efforts and the impact of ITAR on the smaller companies. One of the issues brought up in this discussion was the need to be able to retain foreign students and workers with a STEM background or experience so that we don’t lose them back to their home country or another country. Later, a listener asked about student internships at OAI and we also learned that the company is hiring. As our program was drawing to a close, I asked about the OAI year two plans and the company five year plan. As you will hear, they are planning for growth and market share increases. We talked about their IP being one of their main products & the need for standardization. Charles Pooley called back in to over the costs required and the realistic time line for getting a secondary payload ride. This discussion supports the need for lower launch costs and for additional small satellite and cubesat launch options. Near the program’s end, our guest responded to an email question about the USML and CCL regarding ITAR.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can contact our guests through their website or me.

Guest: Dr. Jeff Foust. Topics: Space news, space policy, NewSpace, budgets, Mars, & you name it! It’s all here today. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm.

We welcomed back Dr. Jeff Foust for this comprehensive space policy, news, and budget discussion. During the first segment of this1 hour 49 minute show, Jeff brought us up to date with Armadillo Aerospace and the decision by John Carmack to put the company into “hibernation.” Jeff’s report was comprehensive and we hope that John is able to raise additional capital to resume his work. Our next topic focused on the partisan budget fight regarding the 2013 NASA Authorization. Jeff reported on this in the current issue of The Space Review (see www.thespacereview.com/article/2342/1). Again, this was a very comprehensive discussion on the NASA 2013 Authorization and Appropriation bills, and the partisanship in congress. Among listener questions were those wanting to know if NASA was being signaled out for special budgetary treatment or getting the same treatment as other parts/branches of the government. You don’t want to miss this discussion. Also discussed was the potential impact of NASA and civil space issues on commercial space and the NewSpace industry. Jeff then received some questions about the NewSpace 2013 Conference which he attended. Before going to break, I asked Jeff to go over the criteria for submitting an article to The Space Review. He suggested contacting him with your idea at jeff@thespacereview.com, plus he went over the main article requirements.

In the second segment, Dr. Foust was asked about SLS, then we talked about crowd funding. A listener asked him if there was any research showing how many crowd funding success stories actually used the money raised as intended in their offer. Neither Jeff nor I had that information but we would welcome it if any of you know those stats. Ron emailed us about the potential economic boom from NewSpace & commercial space, a possible Netscape moment, and would such an economic boom be noticed & well received by congress. Our guest had much to say about the Netscape Moment theory for NewSpace which led to a discussion on how government can both enable and hinder space development. We then discussed Curiosity one year after landing on Mars (see his Space Review article on this at www.thespacereview.com/article/2344/1). From here, we talked about HSF and Mars, specifically Mars One and Inspiration Mars. Jeff told us about attending the recently held Mars One event at GWU last week, plus he had much to say about the proposed mission. We talked about the idea of going to Mars rather than the first to the Moon, then to Mars. As the program was ending, Jeff mentioned the upcoming DC-X 20th anniversary celebration in New Mexico (www.dc-xspacequest.org).

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Dr. Jeff Foust at the email address listed above for The Space Review.

Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Our discussion covered wide range of timely topics per the below summary. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.

We started our 2 hour 3 minute Open Lines discussion with a five minute recorded interview with Sarah Cruddas in the UK regarding the UK astronaut Tim Peake who is now scheduled for a mission to the ISS. Sarah told us about the impact of Tim being the UK’s first government funded and supported astronaut. You will clearly hear her excitement about this and for sure you will understand the very positive impact of this in England along with national British excitement. Way to go England and congratulations from The Space Show! You can find out more about Sarah’s reporting, space, science & film work at www.sarahcruddas.com. Our next caller was Mark Longanbach from Star Systems to tell us about the Hermes spacecraft and their efforts in developing a suborbital spaceship for tourism and cargo. We also talked about crowd funding and Kickstarter with him. Next, Nelson called in to talk about the need for long term NASA goals and he outlined his concept for bringing the space community together and making the most out of tight budgets, assets, technology, and capabilities, all in support of repositioning our space program for doing great things in the future. Nelson requested feedback on his idea so post your comments on The Space Show blog. Nelson’s blog can be found at www.aviationweek.com/UserProfile.aspx?newspaperUserId=219284. Kelly called next to talk about the upcoming 20th anniversary of DC-X and he compared back then to now. As you will hear, Kelly saw more positive things back “in the day” than today. He talked about today’s commercial space industry, NASA, SpaceX, commercial space, etc. We also talked about the planned commercial Mars missions, the asteroid & lunar missions. I’m sure you will find his comments interesting & thought provoking.

In our second segment, Tim said Rossi and his E-CAT were validated by a third party. He then took issue with much of what Kelly had to say, especially around SpaceX and the emerging commercial space industry. We also talked about the proposed NASA-Bigelow Aerospace project and I read the NASA PR announcement about it on air. Later in the second segment, Charles Pooley called. He wanted to talk about the NASA-Bigelow announcement and he said he also disagreed with Kelly, especially regarding SpaceX. While Kelly was critical of the SpaceX engine design, Charles said it was an excellent design and he told us why he thought so. I chimed in my support for SpaceX as I think they are doing a very good job and have solved inflight problems in an impressive way. Also in this segment, we talked some about what constitutes a commercial mission. I suggested today’s emerging industry is a hybrid but in the end, the companies behave as commercial companies. Pooley also talked about a Scaled CATO engine failure. He later sent us emails which I read on air that described the problem, then Charles called back to explain what I read. Another topic I mentioned included the problems with the Kepler Space Telescope.

Post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. If you want to email any of the callers, do so through me.

Guest: Jon Goff. Topics: The Lunar Patent concept and Altius Space Machines company updates. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.

We welcomed Jon Goff, President and CEO of Altius Space Machines, back to The Space Show for this 60 minute discussion focusing both on the idea of a lunar patent and Altius company projects and updates. I suggest you read and follow along with these websites and blogs: http://selenianboondocks.com; http://altius-space.com, and Jon’s blog article about the lunar patent concept http://selenianboondocks.com/2013/01/random-thoughts-columbus-article-link-and-lunar-patents. For the first part of our hour long discussion with Jon, we focused on the lunar patent idea. Jon got the idea to write about it on his blog from Mike Mealling’s own blog post on his RocketForge blog, “Lessons in exploration from Columbus and the Spanish Crown” at http://rocketforge.org/2013/01/10/lessons-in-exploration-from-columbus-and-the-spanish-crown.html. Jon spent time with us going over the history of how and why the Spanish crown put forth the Columbus expedition which he said was all about getting patents along the trade routes. Jon applied this concept to lunar development explaining how it might work. He also suggested this might be an end run around the absence of property rights and the terms of the U.N. space treaties. Listeners asked questions about how a patent might work, would it need to be issued by an international entity to be enforceable, and how could it be enforced. This brought up the question of benefit sharing and terms & concepts such as those found in the Moon Treaty. Jon said he was interested in feedback, especially from the space legal community so please share your thoughts on The Space Show blog. During the balance of our time with Jon, he told us about his company plans, new ideas, SBIRs, and SAA agreements to develop a new breed of robotic arms. We talked about tools for satellite service and possible ISS free flyers. Jon told us about their project with Nanoracks, DARPA, and JPL. He also described MINION which is a project with NASA LArc for an extendable/retractable arm that could operate inside the ISS. You can read about this project on Jon’s Selenian Boondocks blog. A listener asked him about using Kickstarter for funding new projects and another listener was interested in hearing more about Jon’s plans for Altius in the future.

If you have comments/questions for Jon Goff, please post them on The Space Show blog. You can reach Jon through the Altius website, his blog, or through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.

Guest: Dr. John Hunter. Topics: Hydrogen gas gun technology and capability, microwave propulsion for delivering cargo. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.

We welcomed back Dr. John Hunter for a fresh look at hydrogen gas gun propulsion technology and capability, microwave propulsion for delivering propellant and delicate cargo, cubesat launchers, and more. During the first segment of our 85 minute program, Dr. Hunter briefly explained his departure from QuickLaunch and the viability of impulse launch with the hydrogen gas gun. He explained how the hydrogen gas gun works which as you will hear is very simple. Dr. Hunter say that with the gas gun, there could be very high payload fractions into the 20’s. Our guest was asked about total costs for the hydrogen gas gun which he referred to as installed costs. Listeners asked him to describe the physical characteristics of the gun and we talked about how many times it could be used without needing refurbishing of some kind. Dr. Hunter also talked about the high pressures and we compared the gun to the old U.S. Navy battleship 18 inch gun from the WWII era. A listener asked if the gun would make a good weapon. The answer was no. John was asked where the gun might be located and talked about Adak & Kodiak, Alaska plus other possible sites in the Lower 48. Listeners then asked if the Alaskan heavier cold air was a factor in using the gun. We learned that the differences between cold air and warm air were minor.

In our second segment, Dr. Hunter introduced us to microwave propulsion launch. He spent some time describing how microwave launch would work and even talked about using consumer quality magnetrons from microwave ovens. In response to listener questions, he talked about demo launches and a Cal Tech student’s PhD thesis on the subject. Later in the segment, our guest was asked about using an impulse launch system as a cubesat launcher given the rise in popularity along with growing demand for cubesats. Our last discussion topic was the use of Kickstarter for funding emerging and startup space projects. Dr. Hunter said it offered real possibilities and advantages for regular people to participate in space companies and projects, but he also issued a warning for people to be alert to not be taken given the lack of oversight with crowd sourcing funding projects in general.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can contact Dr. Hunter through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com.

Guest: Zac Manchester. Topics: Zac’s KickSat project, cubesats, crowd-funding, & more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.

We welcomed Zac Manchester to the program to discuss his KickSat CubeSat open source mission using 200 Sprite ChipSats. You can learn more by visiting www.kicksat.net, www.spacecraftresearch.com and http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/251588730/kicksat-your-personal-spacecraft-in-space. From these websites you can visit the KickSat wiki as well as the KickSat blog. We started our discussion with Zac Manchester with his providing us with an overview of his KickSat project and Kickstarter as a tool to fund some types of space ventures. Zac talked about launches being provided by the NASA Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (/ELaNa) program plus the lack of traditional financing which caused Zac to give Kickstarter a try. The KickSat team started out wanting to raise $30,000 but instead raised nearly $75,000. He had much to say throughout both segments regarding crowd-funding and the use of Kickstarter. Zac also described the cubesats and the Sprite ChipSats. He talked about the importance of reducing the size of the unit and what this meant for mission design, propulsion, technology advancement, lower launch costs, and more. Several listeners emailed him questions including space debris questions since the 200 Sprite ChipSats would have a short life expectancy and then return to Earth. He said all would burn up in the atmosphere but he also talked about future missions where the units would float back to Earth as would a piece of paper. Technology advancement for this to happen must take place but he said it was certainly plausible. Other issues discussed in our first segment included secondary payments and payload integration. Regarding payload integration, he said their project goes to Cal Poly for peapod integration and then to the Cape from Cal Poly for vehicle integration. Cal Poly does the peapod integration for academic cubesat projects. A listener saw the project plans on one of the websites and inquired about making the hardware or buying a kit from Zac’s group. As you will hear, the project is open source and people are encouraged to buy the off the shelf parts and make their own unit. Zac mentioned several online stores where the parts could be bought. We talked about the difficulty in getting a launch for a stand alone cubesat someone might build.

In the second segment, we took a call from Charles Pooley who talked about building a small launchers to get away from secondary payloads and potential launch delays we he said were the barriers to this industry. Check out www.microlaunchers.com for more on the Pooley idea. Zac then told us about the March 16 workshop at the Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley on how to set up KickSat ground stations. Zac described the ground station using Ham bands and suggested the cost would be around $200.00. Another listener asked Zac for his background & how he got interested in space & a cubesat project. Zac had much to say about the academic research that inspired him as both a Cornell undergrad and masters student.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog above. You can contact Zac through his project websites and blog.

Guest: Michael Laine. Topics: Lunar space elevator updates. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information.

We welcomed back Michael Laine for LiftPort Group updates regarding the lunar space elevator. For more information, visit www.liftport.com. Michael started our two hour discussion talking about his very successful Kickstarter campaign last year. LiftPort started the campaign asking for $8,000 but raised $110,000! During this first segment, Michael talked about the plans to use the $110K, the experiments LiftPort would do and why additional funding was needed to advance the lunar space elevator project. I asked Michael lots of questions about the lunar space elevator market, his time table for transitioning away from being a Power Point project, & the LiftPort labor force. LiftPort is mostly volunteer labor. For now it is working on tether and balloon experiments. We talked extensively about using Kickstarter and even talked about the tax consequences for Kickstarter revenue. Michael did say that he thought the project would be a private project in that government would not be a major supporter, if at all. Michael then talked about his fact finding global missing seeking new financing and partners after the Kickstarter campaign. He had much to say about his visit to Iceland and the company CCI Games. When pressed, Michael suggested 8 years from last August to completion. Listen to the details supporting this timeline. Michael also outlined four areas needing resolve to move the lunar elevator project forward.

In our second segment, Michael described more of the elevator project, including the use of EML1 and why & how the elevator ribbon would work, including its logistics from EML1 to the lunar surface and EML1 back toward Earth. He also talked about their lunar surface elevator contact point on Sinus Medii. A listener asked him about the Google Lunar XPrize & Michael told us how a GLXP mission could benefit the LiftPort project. Also in this segment, we talked about costs. Michael estimated about $800 million for a robotic mission and maybe up to $1.2 billion for three astronauts roughly every three weeks. He compared these costs to the cost of shuttle launches and flights to the ISS. When asked about lunar markets that might economically justify the lunar elevator, he talked about the potential of HE3 mining and new uses for the material here on Earth, plus lunar SSP and solar panel manufacturing. Alex asked Michael to be specific about the transitional steps from Power Point to the beginning of a systems engineering project to develop the elevator. Emory emailed in more questions about tether use, Tim called (sorry for phone line issues on Tim’s call) regarding tethers and more. David Ben wanted to know about the Falcon Heavy and I expanded that to include SLS. A question came up about LiftPort’s interest in a Mars space elevator. Our discussion concluded with Michael suggesting that Kickstarter & similar crowd source funding organizations will play a bigger & more important role in funding space ventures in the future.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. Michael can be reached at info@liftport.com. You can also subscribe to the LiftPort free newsletter from their website.